The Return of the Flagellants
“In England in the 14th century, when the marauding Flagellants came to town, good members of the community found these people amusing and rather ridiculous, and otherwise they went about their lives, having fun and building a better and more prosperous society. Let those who desire to suffer to be free to do so. As for the rest of us, let us get back to having good lives, including partaking in actual fun.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker
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Through the Pinhole, Clearly
“The problem isn’t that healthcare professionals and sundry medical scientists see the entire world unclearly, or that they sense only part of the proverbial elephant in the room, it is that they see the world very clearly indeed, but only through their own little pinhole view of it.” ~ Robert E. Wright
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Stop Bringing Politics Into the Supreme Court
“The confirmation hearings of the last three nominees have been the subject of national scrutiny and excitement. This fundamentally misses the mark on what the Court is supposed to be and suggests an ominous politicization of the Court that could wreck the country.” ~ Ethan Yang
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What Would Lincoln Do?
“Salmon P. Chase, the greatest civil rights lawyer of that day, in particular, campaigned for Lincoln’s re-election. Then, on the day the Senate reconvened, Lincoln sent over a one-sentence message nominating Chase, who was then confirmed without debate, on a voice vote.” ~ Clifford F. Thies
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George Melloan, a Giant at the Wall Street Journal, Has Died
“Melloan wrote with calm and elegant prose but underneath that smooth easy-reading style was a wonderful warrior for truth, a man with a passion for improving the world through freedom and ever evolving cascades of human achievement and dignity. How I long for that vision to come back! It seems almost extinct today on both the right and the left, and tragically so.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker
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Why Principles Still Matter in a Pandemic
“A healthy and prosperous society is not guaranteed by the size of its wealth, the capabilities of its technology, or the perceived intelligence of its experts. Rather it is upheld by the promulgation of ideas. Ideas rooted in free enterprise, limited government, individual dignity, and the rule of law. America, the most powerful polity in human history, brought itself to its knees by turning on these proven principles in the midst of a pandemic that freer countries handled far better.” ~ Ethan Yang
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The Academy’s Monopoly on the Truth Is Crumbling
“Just like in markets, truly revolutionary technologies never destroy the old order–they usually accomplish more through adoption, changing established players from within. Goodacre’s efforts, especially as a hub where traditional academic insiders and outsiders met, teaches us much about how new technology changes old institutions. More academics should learn the lesson.” ~ Max Gulker
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So You Want to Overthrow the State: Ten Questions for Aspiring Revolutionaries
“A course that asks students to put themselves in the positions of aspiring revolutionaries and to prepare their own revolutionary manifestoes is extremely creative. I think it’s the kind of course from which students can benefit mightily–if, of course, they ask the right questions.” ~ Art Carden
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Should K-12 classrooms teach from the 1619 Project?
“We need not indulge the bombastic posturing of Trump, or unlikely legislative efforts to strip funding from schools, to conclude that the 1619 Project is still ill-suited for K-12 education. That is a judgement we may make on its scholarly shortcomings alone.” ~ Phillip W. Magness
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What Would We Do without Experts?
“Experts have been responsible for eugenic policies in the past and forced sterilizations in the United States until relatively recently. It is hard to imagine a more intrusive and life-altering event than forced sterilization. All in all, while politicians are the bane of any democracy, there are lots of reasons to think it better to give political power to elected representatives than to unelected experts who may mean well and so often do enormous harm.” ~ Gerald P. Dwyer
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Quartering and its Importance to the American Revolution
“Quartering imposed a serious burden on local populations, especially laborers and poorer households. Its incidence is harder to measure than that of stamp, sugar and tea taxes. However, it is probably one of the most underappreciated major causal factors of the American Revolution.” ~ Vincent Geloso
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Let’s Follow the History of Science Instead
“A politician who really had the public’s interest at heart would, instead, say: ‘Times are tough. Some Americans have died from a natural cause and more are likely to. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do because viruses live by their own rules, not ours.'” ~ Robert E. Wright
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